 |
|
Live to be100-plus.
It’s not as unlikely as you might think.
People over 100, once considered to be a rarity, are the world’s fastest-growing sub-population of older Americans. By 2050, according Census projections, 834,000 Americans will have celebrated their 100th birthday.
People are generally living longer than before, partly because 20th century public health measures, such as the widespread availability of clean drinking water, nationwide vaccination efforts, and the systematic prevention of maternal and childhood mortality. More effective treatments, for such diseases as: heart disease, pneumonia, diabetes and certain forms of cancer have also resulted in people living longer.
Until recently, there had never been a population study of healthy centenarians designed to find out why they aged so well, while others aged so poorly. Thanks to Dr. Thomas Perls’ New England Centenarian Study, and other research, we know a lot more about the factors that cause and curtail aging:
• Genetic factors. The common wisdom used to be that genes determined longevity. Recent research dispels that myth. We now know that genes only determine 30 percent of the characteristics of aging. The other 70 percent is linked to our state of mind and lifestyle.
• Activity level. Stanford researcher James F. Fries writes in the New England Journal of Medicine that our body ages, not from overuse, but from disuse. Many of the diseases of aging are the result of the cumulative effect of people’s bad habits.
Researchers say inactivity accounts for about half of our functional decline between 30 and 70. Lack of exercise weakens our muscles, including the most import one, the heart, and contributes to problems ranging from obesity to joint disorders. Scientists also say our high-fat, low-fiber diet is the major cause of American’s heart and digestive problems. In short, what we do can make a difference.
• Disease resistance. Dr. Perls’ study found that almost none of the centenarians had encountered life-threatening cancers. The only chronic disease they suffered from was arthritis. On average, the centenarians in the study lived without disability until age about 97 and took only one medication. What a dramatic demonstration of the principle that becoming old and becoming ill are two different things!
The good news seems to be that if you make it past 80 without a major illness you have a lot more living to do. The oldest of the old also seemed to have another advantage: the period of time in which they suffered ill health, and ultimately died, was relatively short.
One of the most fascinating and unusual traits of those in the study emerged only after they died. When their brains were autopsied, none of the markers of Alzheimer’s disease—plaques and tangles—were found. This exciting discovery means that aging and Alzheimer’s disease are two separate processes.
• Dealing with Distress. The lives of the centenarians in the study certainly weren’t easy. They experienced more than their share of problems, including poverty, hardship, oppression, and personal loss. Their longevity may have something to do with their proclivity for not avoiding stress, but finding the effective ways to dealt with it. Resilience and an optimistic outlook were the key life-long personality traits exhibited most by those by those 100+.
• The gender factor. Four in five centenarians are women. What helped them survive? Researchers found that the mutual assistance pacts that women naturally develop provided both comfort and companionship. It also seemed that the people who were able to survive into old-old age were able to separate themselves from loss and move on. Dr. John Rowe, in his book, Successful Aging, says that centenarians are natural-stress shedders able to shrug off life’s slings and arrows with relative ease.
• Diet. One of the mantra’s of the 21st century is you are what you eat. If that is true, it is very difficult to come to any conclusion about what those 100+ ate. When they were growing up, it was an entirely different world—everyone ate fatty, salted foods. Fresh fruit was rare and processed food did not exist. What was striking about the present diet of the oldest of Americans, was that it was varied and the portions were small. In fact, whatever they ate, those in the study had a very important health factor going for them: They were not overweight. Ninety nine percent of Dr. Perls’ subjects were not obese.
What lessons can you and I learn from today’s pioneers of aging-the 100+ population? They may be blessed with good genes, but good health habits can help make up for some genetic differences and enable you to live most of your life disease free.
The best lifestyle advice is:
• Don’t smoke
• Maintain a healthy weight and diet
• Keep your blood pressure under control
• Exercise, both aerobically and with weights
•. Keep your mind active with new and different activities to exercise
different parts of your brain
• Get a good night’s sleep (seven to nine hours)
In addition, because the average diet doesn’t provide all the nutrients
to prevent the diseases and disorders associated with aging, Dr. Edward
Schnieder, dean of the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern
California, suggests this daily Formula for Longevity:
• 200 Milligrams Vitamin C
• 200 Milligrams Vitamin E
• 12 Milligram Vitamin B
• 400 International Units Vitamin D
• 30 grams Folic Acid
• Eight glasses Water
• Attitude. Finally, I believe the real key to living a long life lies in your attitude about aging. Certainly the centenarians in Dr. Perls’s study never considered their age a limitation. They remained actively engaged with life.
RESOURCES
Living
to 100: Lessons in Living to your Maximum Potential at Any Age,
by Thomas T. Perls M.D. and Margery Hunter Silver Ed. D.
Successful
Aging, by John W. Rowe M.D and Robert L. Kahn, Ph.D.
Alive and Well: The emergence of the active Nonagenarian,
by William F. Powers